Transfer mechanism



G. WHITE.

TRANSFER MECHANISM. APPLICATION men MAY is, me.

Patelifed May 17, 1921.

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G. WHITE. TRANSFER MECHAN'SM. APPUCATION FILED MAYS, 1918: 1,378,503. Patented May 17, 1921.

4 SHEE TS-SHEET G. WHITE.

TRANSFER MECHANISM- APPLICATION FILED MAY|5.1918.

Patented Mai 17, 1921.

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h vue/wtoq, George Wife TRANSFER MECHANISM. APPLICATION map MAY15, 1 918.

Patented May 17, 19 21.

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- npehfg z 1 660298 UNHTED STATES GEORGE WHITE,

7 OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO PANAYIOTIS- PANOULIAS, 0F JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

rnansrna MECHANISM.

Specification of Jiettersiatent. Patgnted May 17,1921

Original application filed 11113 19, 1913, Serial No. 779,985. Divided. and. this application filed. May 15, p

1918. Serial No. 234,642.

To all whom it may cmwem:

Be it known that I, Gnonen WHITE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in- Transfer Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mechanism for transferring articles, particularly from a' support to a conveyer, and has been designed primarily for the purpose of taking rows of confections or candies, or any other articles which it may be desired to provide with a coating or ornamentation, from a support or receiving conveyor to a delivery conveyer which carries these articles to the machine employed for applying such coating or ornamentation.

A specific example of my invention will' now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine, with parts in section and parts omitted; Fig. 2 is a detail horizontal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

I and Fig. 7 is a partial plan View of the lefthand end of my machine.

The candies'or other articles to be coated (hereinafter referred to under the generic 7 term of cores) are placed in a bog; 30 having an inclined bottom 31. Immediately adjacent to the front edge of the inclined bottom 31 is an inclined feed board 32, preferably of a-steeper inclination than the bottom 31. Over this feed board the articles from the box 30 are fed downwardly by means of brush mechanism 33 of the character more fully described and claimed in my Letters Patent. of the United States No.

1,266,734, issued May 21, 1918, on my application Serial No. 779,985, filed 'July 19,

1913, ofwhich my present application is a division.

nism is a transverse shaft 34 carrying a ratchet 34' for operating a mechanism to agitate the bottomv 31 as set'forth in my above-mentioned patent. This shaft 34 also carries sprocket wheels 35 supporting chains 36, one' at each side of the machine, said chains being endless and also passing, at the other end of the machine, around similar sprocket wheels 37. Y

An intermittent motion, always in the same direction, is imparted to the chains36 by thefollowing mechanism: Each of said chains is engaged by a toothed wheel or roller 38, journaled at 39 upon'a lever 40, the two levers 40 being secured to a rock shaft 41, journaled in a stationary bracket 42. A weight 43, secured to an arm 44 carried by the shaft 41, tends to bring the levers 40 to the position shown in Figsfl E 7 Ad acent to the said box and brush mechaand 4. To the shaft 41 is also secured an arm 45, to which is pivoted at 46 a'rod 47,

the other end of which carries a roller 48 engaged and operated by a cam 49 secured to the main shaft 50. This shaft is driven in any suitable manner, as by a belt or chain 5l'running to a pulley or sprocket 52 on a powershaft. The rod 47 is supported in such a way as 'to slide'lengthwise therein, in a guide sleeve 53 rigid with an arm 54 which is mounted loosely on the shaft 50. Each of the levers 40 carries a pawl 55 engaging'the respective roller 38 and holding such roller against rotation when the lever moves toward the right, from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4, but allowing said roller to turn idly when the lever returns towardthe left, under'the influence of the weight 43. Thus, as the cam 49- causesthelevers 40 to swing toward the right, the chains 36 will be caused to travel, their upper runs moving toward the left in Figs. 1 and 4. During the return .movement of the levers 40, under the influence ofthe weight 43, therollers 38 rotate idly as stated above, and the chains 36 therefore remain stationary.

Each of the chains 36'is connected at suit- 30 V and preceding them. At the proper time distance from said table 58 to allow the cross bars 57 and their projections, referred to hereinafter, to pass freely. The forward edge of each cross bar 57 is notched or toothed, as shown in Fig. 7. The cross bars 57 therefore will not only feed the cores of cores will reach the table 58 than required to fill all the notches of the cross bars 57. Such extra or surplusage cores would naturally stay in front of the row of cores held in the notches of the'bar 57. In order to eject such surplusage cores, a trap door 75,

pivoted at 76 and pressed upward by a spring 77, may be located in the table 58,

at a suitable distance in advance ofthe feed board 32. This trap door is made with upwardly-extending lugs 78 provided with laterally-extending pins 7 9 located in the path of projections 80 connected with the bars 57 the projections or pins 80 will engage the pins 7 9 and thus open the trap door 7 5 to discharge any cores which are in advance of the row 74. Immediately thereafter, as the pins 80 clear the pins 79, the door will fly upward and close the opening in the table 58, sothat said door .will virtually form a part of the table, allowing the row of cores 74'to proceed over the closed door 75 to the forward portion of the table 58. It is to be understood, however, that this trap door arrangement is not essential to my invention, that is to say, a continuous table 58 may be employed if preferred.

The cores being advanced intermittently in rows, as described, will finally be pushed onto a belt or other endless conveyor 81 the upper run of which is at the same level with the table 58 and immediately in advance thereof. This conveyer is given a continuous motion, in the same direction as the chains 36, in any suitable manner, as by meansof a chain 82 running over a sprocket 83 secured to the main shaft 50 and also over a sprocket 84 secured to one of the shafts 85 carrying the rollers 86 on which the conveyer 81 is supported. One of these shafts '85 is preferably co-axial with the, shaft carrying thesprocket wheels 37, or, as shown, the sprockets 37 are mounted on the forward shaft 85, it being understood, of

course, that the sprockets 37 turn independ entlyOf the corresponding roller 86, which may be accomplished by securing said roller rigidly to its shaft, while mounting the sprocket wheels 37 loosely on the same shaft. The cross bars 57 push the cores from the table 58 onto the conveyer 81, and as soon as the cross bar 57 stops, the conveyer 81,

which continues to move (preferably at a greater linear speed than the chains 36), will draw the row of cores out of the notches of the cross bar 57, feeding them forward so as to separate the cores from said cross bar and to form a space between the cross bar and the row of cores. Into this space is adapted to descend a pin-bar or rake 87 having pins 88 projecting downwardly and disposed in V-shaped fashion (see Fig. 7), cor:- responding in arrangement to the V-sha'ped notches of the cross bars 57. Thus, if the cores should become disarranged during the short interval between their engagement with the cross bar 57 and their subsequent engagement with the rake 87, the latter owing to the V-shaped arrangement of its teeth 88, will re-aline said cores to their proper position.

The rake 87 is intended to transfer the row of cores from the conveyer 81 to another conveyer 89, for taking the cores to another machine, say a chocolate-coating machine, for further treatment. The cores, however, do not pass directly from the conveyer 81 to the conveyer 89, but on their way from one conveyer to the other the cores pass over a movable'or tilting table 90, mounted to.

swing about a horizontal transverse axis 91. In one position, Flg. 5, the rear end-of the table 90 1s ralsed away from conveyer 81, so

as to allow the cross bars'57 with their projections to pass under said table. In the other position, Figs. 1, 4 and 6, the table 90 is swung down to bring its rear end into registry with the conveyer 81, while in the position first mentioned the table 90 is in registry with, or in operative relation to. the conveyer 89. The tilting movement of the table 90 is obtained by the following mechanism: 011 the main shaft 50 is secured a cam 92 adapted to engage a roller 93 carried by a rocking member 94 fulcrumed on a rock shaft 95 journaled in brackets 96, that is to say, the member 94 is loose on the shaft 95. A link 97 is pivotally connected at 8 with the rocking member 94 and at 99 with the table 90, inthe rear of its pivot or fulcrum 91;

The rake 87 is secured to a carriage 100 provided with rollers 101 adapted town in Ushaped guides 102secured to the tilting table 90 each side thereof. Theaxle of one of the rollers 101 is extended as shown in Figs. 3 and 7, and pivotally connected with a link 103, the-other end of which is pivotally connected with an arm 104 secured if arm 106 pivotally connected at its outer end with a link 107, the upper end of which has a pivotal connection with a crank arm 108 secured to the main shaft 50.

The guides 102 stop short of the rear end of the table 90, and inasmuch as the rake 87 is to travel beyond the rear end of said table, additional guides are provided for the carriage 100 at the rear portion of its travel. These additional guides 109 are similar to the guides 102 and are adapted to register therewith (Figs. 1 and 4) but at other times- (Fig. 6), the guides 109 are raised as explained in detail hereinafter, to lift the rake 87 out of the path of the bars 57 and of the cores A. F or this purpose, the supplementary guides 109 are each provided with a downwardly-extending bar 110 having a slot or recess 110 into which extends a pin 111 projected from the end of the crank'arm 112 secured to the rock shaft 95. A cam 120 on the shaft 50 engages a roller 121 on a crank arm 122 secured to the shaft 95, to rock the latter (see Figs. 3 and 6). The bars 110 move vertically in guides 113. I may provide a vertically-adjustable stop 11a to arrest the table 90 at the proper point when swung into registry with the conveyer 81.

As shown in the drawings, the table and the conveyer 81 registering therewith are horizontal. In some cases, it maybe desirable to cause the said table to be inclined slightly upward toward the delivery end, so as to cause the cores to remain in better contact with the feed bars 57. For this purpose, the entire portion 116 of the machine to the rear of the forward shaft 85 may be mounted to swing on said shaft, the rear end of said frame portion being supported adjustably on rods 117. For instance, said rods may extend loosely through the heads of bolts 118 passing horizontally through said frame portion, the parts being locked after adjustment, by means of nuts 119.

- The operation will be readily understood and may be briefly described as follows:

The articles or cores passing from box 30 are fed over the feed board 32 by the brush mechanism 33 as described in my abovementioned patent, and thus reach the table 58 over which they are. fed intermittently by the notched bars 57. When they reach the left-hand end of the table 58, the bar57 engaging them will push them over onto the constantly-moving conveyer 81, the bar coming to a stop in about the position illustrated by Fig. 5. Then the table 90 tilts to the position shown in Figs. 1, 1', and 6, the rake 87 however, being still supported by said table 90, that is to say, the rollers 101 are still in the guide portion 102. The rake 87 is then traveling rearward along the table 90 which is now in registry with the guide portion 109, as in Figs. 1 and4. After th -rollers 101 of the lake carria e have passed from the guide 102 to the guide 109, and before the rake in itsirearward movement can collide with the cores now being fed forward by the continuouslymoving conveyer 81 away from the now stationary bar 57, the guide 109-rises to" the position shown in Fig. 6 so that the rake can pass over the cores A. Fig. 6 shows the rake almost, but not quite, in its rear position, that is to say, the rake will travel a little farther to the right while the cores continue to travel toward .the left. The guide 109 then drops, carrying the rake 87 to the position shown in Figs. 1' and 4,-s'o' that the rake will be in the rear of theline of cores. Then the rake travels forward again, pushlng the cores in front of it over the tilting table 90, and after the rollers equal tothe extent of the movement-.or

throw given to the chains 36 at each operation of the levers 10. Such distance is also preferably larger than the upper run of the continuously-moving conveyer 81, so that when one of the bars 57 moves forward from the position indicated in Fig. 5, such forward movement willcarry it beyond the turn or bend at the forward end of the conveyer 8,1. In Fig. 1, the two bars 57' shown on the lower run are successive or adjacent bars. The two bars shown in full on the upper run are not consecutive, but there is between them a bar not shown. Thepositions of the four bars shown in full lines are simultaneous positions, while the position shown in dotted lines adjacent to the trapdoor 75 is a position occurring during the movementof the said bar'at a different moment from the one corresponding to the full line positions.

It will be noted thatthe cross bars are located on the side of the chains 36 toward the table 58, (see Figs. 1, 4:, and 5)., and a very efficient feeding or conveying action of said bars isthe result of this arrangement.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature of myflinvention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: 1. The combination ofa box havlng an outlet, a table adjacent to said box, and

adapted to receive articles discharged from said outlet, chains having portions extending lengthwise of said table adjacent thereto, and cross bars connecting said chains and arranged to move lengthwise over said table and under the outlet of said box, said bars being arranged to move between the chains and the table.

- 2. The combination of a table adapted to support articles, chains having portions extending lengthwise of said table adjacent thereto, and cross bars connecting said chains and arranged to move lengthwise over the table and feed the articles thereon, said bars being arranged to move between the chains and the table. 7

3. The combination of a table adapted to support articles, means, movable adjacent to said table, for feedingsaid articles lengthwise of the table, a trap door in said table, closing in a direction toward said feeding means, and means for opening said trap door in the direction away from said feeding means. 7

4. The combination of a box having-an outlet, a. table arranged to receive articles from said outlet, cross bars movable over the table to feed said articles lengthwise thereof, a trap door in. the table, for discharging surplus articles, and means, connected with the cross bars, for opening said trap door.

5. The combination of a table adapted to support articles, means for feeding said articles lengthwise of the table, a trap door 1n the table, for dlscharging surplus articles, and means, connected with sald feedmg means, for opening said trap door.

6. The combination of a table adapted to support articles, means for feeding said articles lengthwise of the table, a trap door in the table, a spring for normally pressing said door to the closed position, and means, connected with said feeding'means, for opening said trap door against the tension of its 7 sprin 7 The combination of a table adapted to support articles, means, movable adjacent to said table, for feeding said articles lengthwise of the table, a trap door movable to a position in which it alines with said table, and also movable to, an open position, in a direction away from said feeding means, a spring pressing said-trap door toward said feeding means to said closed or alining position, and means for moving said trap door to its open position against the action of its spring, in a direction away from said feeding means.

8. The combination of a table, means for feeding articles thereto, a cross bar extending over the table and adapted to feed articles lengthwise thereof,a trap door in the table, for discharging surplus articles, and

means, connected with said cross bar, for actuating the trap door.

9. The combination of a table, means for feeding articles thereto, a cross bar extending over the table and adapted to feed the articles lengthwise thereof, said bar having a series of notches to receive and hold a row of articles, a trap door in said table, and means, connected with said bar and projecting in advance thereof, for opening the trap door and allowing it to close again before the row of articles held in the notches of the bar reaches t 1e trap door.

10. The combination of a conveyer adapted to support articles, cross bars movable lengthwise over said conveyer, means for imparting an intermittent motion to said bars, means for causing the conveyer to move while the said bars are stationary, and

thereby carry articles away from said cross bars, and means movable transversely of the conveyer, to enter the space between a cross bar and the articles which have been carried therefrom by the action of said conveyer, said means being also movable lengthwise of the conveyer to take said articles therefrom.

11. The combination of a conveyer adapted to support articles, cross bars movable lengthwise of said conveyer, means for giv ing the conveyer a forward motion relatively to said cross bars and'thereby carry articles in engagement with the front of a cross bar, away from such cross bar, and

means movable transversely of the conveyer, to enter the space between a cross bar and the articles which have been separated therefrom by the action of said conveyer, said means being also movable lengthwise of the conveyer to take said articles therefrom.

12. The combination of a table, a conveyer registering with the delivery end of said table, cross bars movable lengthwise over said table and over said conveyer, means for imparting an intermittent motion to said bars, means for imparting a continuous notion to the conveyer so that it will carry articles restingagainst said crossbars, away from the cross bars, and means movable transversely of the conveyer, to enter the space between a cross bar and the row of articles which has been separated therefrom bythe action of said conveyer, said means being movable lengthwise of the conveyer to take said row of articles therefrom.

13. The combination'of a table, a conveyer registering with the delivery end of said table, cross bars 'movable lengthwise over said table and over said conveyer, and a rake movable toward and, from the conveyer and also movable lengthwise thereof to carry the articles fed by said cross bars, away from the conveyer.

14. The combination of a table, a conveyer registering with the dellvery end of said table, cross bars movable lengthwiseover the table and the conveyer and having notches forming seats forarticles to be fed over the table, and a rake having pins set in V-fashion corresponding to the notches of being movable lengthwise of said support. 7

16. The combination of a support over which articles are adapted to travel, and a feed member movable lengthwise of said support to feed the articles thereon, and also movable away from the support so that such member may be carried above and past such articles, and toward the support to bring such member again to a feeding position.

17. The combination of a table, an enclless conveyer one run of which registers with the delivery end of the table, rollers supporting said conveyer, a frame mounted to swing about an axis coinciding with that of one of said rollers, means for securing said frame after adjustment, the table and conveyer being carried by said frame, chains movable adjacent to said table and to said conveyer, cross bars connecting said chains and movable over the table and the conveyer, and sprocket wheels carrying said chains, one set of such sprocket wheels being co-axial with the pivot of said frame.

18. The combination of a table, an endlessv conveyer one run of which registers with the delivery end of said table, a frame carrying said table and conveyer and mounted to swing for adjustment about an axis adjacent to the delivery end of the conveyer, means for securing said frame after adjustment, chains movable lengthwise adjacent to said table and to said conveyer,

cross bars connecting said chains and movable over the table and over the conveyer,

and sprocket wheels carrying said chains, one set of such sprocket wheels being coaxial with the pivot of said frame.

19. The combination of a conveyer, an-

other conveyer at a distance therefrom, a tilting table adapted to-register with one or the other of said conveyers, means for carrying articles from one conveyer to the other over the tilting table, and means for. actuating said table.

20. The combination of two conveyers arranged to feed articles in substantially the same direction, a tilting table ranging lengthwise of said conveyers and having its respective'ends adapted for registry with V c said conveyers, means for actuating the table, and means for carrying articles from one conveyer to the, other over said table.

21. The combinationof two conveyers arranged to feed articlesin substantially the same direction, a table ranging lengthwise of said conveyers and interposed between them, said table being mounted to swing about an axis transverse relatively 'to the conveyers, means for actuating said table, and means for carrying articles from one conveyer to the other over the table.

22. The combination of two supports, a tilting table interposed between them, means for actuating said table to register first with one support and then with the other, and

means for carrying articles from one support to the other over saidtable.

23. The combination of two supports, a tilting tablebetween them, cross bars movable lengthwise of one of said supports, to feed the articles thereon toward the said table, a carriage movable lengthwise of the table and beyond the end thereof, a feed member connected with said carriage, to.

carry the articles from one support to the other, a movable guide for said carriage, at the point where the latter travels beyond the table, and means for moving said guide away from the support to'allow the feed member to pass over said articles.

24. The combination of two supports, a tilting table between them having its fulcrum at its central portion arranged transversely of said supports, a cross bar movable lengthwise of one of said supports and adapted to pass between said support and said table when the latter is tilted out of registry with said support,'and means for carrying articles from one support to the other over said table.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

GEORGE WHITE. 

